Saturday 13 February 2016

Ways Of Creating Digital Printing That Is Eco Friendly

By Angela Thomas


In line with environmental conservation guidelines which are being adopted by many countries all over the world, many industries have made an effort to be more environment conscious in their operations. The printing industry is no exception. The general trend is to move away from practices which degrade the environment and adopt those which create a more positive impact. There are a number of ways through which you can create digital printing that is eco friendly.

One of the significant changes which are being made is to reduce the emission of volatile organic compounds (also known as VOCs). VOCs have traditionally form a major component of printing ink. One of the effects of these compounds is that they react with nitrogen oxides in the environment in the presence of sunlight to form ozone. The resultant ozone combines with dust particles to form smog which affects both plants and animals.

Another change which is experienced increased uptake is increased use of recycled paper. Compared to virgin paper, recycled paper requires less water to produce. It is also associated with production of less effluent and more importantly, it causes less deforestation. For many years, chlorine has been used in the bleaching process but this is now changing. Modern manufacturing methods produce chlorine-free water.

There are a number of other raw materials which can be recycled or reused. One of the inputs which may be recycled easily is water. In a firm which is operating efficiently, up to 65% of water can be recycled. This is likely to translate into huge savings as relate to operational costs. Other materials can also be recycled to various extents. Such may include, waste paper, ink and aluminum plates.

Energy conservation should be a priority. Efforts should be made to cut down on the use of fossil fuels as much as possible and use renewable sources of energy instead. If you are to buy new equipment, ensure it is more efficient with faster running speed which ensures there is more output per kilowatt of electricity used. Regular servicing ensures that your printers remain efficient and use less energy, ink and water.

The amount of paper used for proofs should be reduced as much as possible or eliminated from the process entirely. The use of emails is one of the ways through which this can be made possible easily. Not only does this practice reduce paper requirements within a firm but also helps customers to keep track of their work as it goes through the various stage of printing.

Changes are also being adopted in fabric printing. The pretreatment process involves the use of compounds which contain urea. When the urea is broken down during the steaming process, carbon dioxide (a greenhouse gas) is produced. Newer alternatives which involve the use of a special foam instead of the urea compounds have been developed.

There is no doubt that the possibilities in environmental conservation are limitless. It is true that some changes are a bit expensive to implement but the returns are tremendous both to individual businesses and the environment. There should be increased usage of modern technology which helps to increase efficiency and reduce wastage.




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